Chapter 254 - Common enemy

Feeling a dull headache, Wang Ming sat down beside Ming Ming to breathe. The stress from the competition and the multiple accusations had taken its toll on him. Getting so far into the competition had already satisfied him. If he could then he would love to walk away now, but there's still another round of competition to finish up. 

Also, there's too much on the line for him to walk away from this competition. He would let down his friends and family who's all supporting him and he could gain so much if he gets further into the competition. Wang Ming felt so comfortable sitting in the seat with Ming Ming on his l.a.p. The girl made small sounds, which sounded like a kitten meowing for its mother, while she stared intensely at the contestants, who were fiercely battling it out on stage, to secure their spot in the quarters. 

The sounds Ming Ming made worked like a sleeping medicine for him. In only a few minutes, Wang Ming had closed his eyes and slept in. Something he hadn't done in a while, as he doesn't need to sleep in the day and afternoon anymore. Ming Ming, still excitedly sitting on Wang Ming's l.a.p, didn't notice he was sleeping before half into the round. 

Using her foam hands, she poked Wang Ming in the face to wake him up. She wanted to watch it together with him. Zhang Hou stopped her from doing it. He had observed Wang Ming earlier. His situation was exactly like his when he attended the competition. When you're the youngest to compete, you're always going to be under the microscope, everyone's going to want to observe and bully you.

"Ming Ming let Wang Ming sleep. He will need all the energy he can get for later. Can you do that for me?" Zhang Hou said with a smile. He gave her a lollipop to sweeten the deal, but he didn't expect her to decline.

"Shhh! Daddy's sleeping." Ming Ming used both her foam hands to cover Zhang Hou's mouth, as she didn't want him to wake Wang Ming up. Zhang Hou didn't know to laugh or cry, it's him that told her to be quiet, but she turned it around on him. 

"Fine, I won't say a word." He wouldn't stoop so low to argue with a small child. Removing her hand from his mouth, Zhang Hou then watched the rest of the competition together with her and stayed quiet the entire time. There were a few instances where he wanted to clap to applaud the contestants who answered correctly, but he stopped after one time as Ming Ming gave him the death stare for making too much noise.

Zhang Hou silently admitted defeat, he's no match for Ming Ming, he couldn't fathom how Wang Ming deals with Ming Ming. Even Fu Jinhai, who gave him and Fu Hong a lot of trouble when he was young, wasn't close to Ming Ming. What irked him the most is her requests are reasonable, there's nothing he could say, it made him like his new granddaughter even more. Though he could only pray and hope that her future husband is someone that has a strong back.

When the round neared its end, Zhang Hou woke Wang Ming up. He felt groggy when he woke up, but his mind cleared up when he got a kiss on the cheek from Ming Ming, who was excited to see him wake up. She wanted to spend more time with Wang Ming before the next round. 

Seeing their relationship made Zhang Hou sentimental. He had always wished for a child and grandchildren of his own. He wondered if Wang Ming was his son, then how would their relationship have been. His girlfriend is young and could easily produce a few babies the only problem is his age and health. His dream is to produce a baby of his own someday. 

After waking up Wang Ming, watched the rest of the show together with Ming Ming. He could visibly see that this group's a lot more intense than his previous group. At the last round, only Shin Wen had secured his spot for the quarters meaning it's a 15 way tie. The last round would determine everything. 

Seeing their stressed expressions, Wang Ming wondered if he had showed the same expression earlier. Asking Ming Ming and Zhang Hou about it, he almost fell down laughing hearing Ming Ming's response, which was a short and simple. "You're more handsome." 

Containing himself, he gave her head a pat and said. "Of course I am. I'm at least 30 years younger than them. It would be weird if they look better than me."

"I could see the stress on your face earlier, but you handled it well. Better than I did, better than anyone I've seen for their first time. Don't put too much pressure on yourself, you've done well, son. From now on out it doesn't matter, just do your best!" Zhang Hou tried his best to ease Wang Ming with his words. He knew exactly what Wang Ming was going through. He could only imagine how hard his heart was beating and body was sweating. Just imagining it, Zhang Hou felt guilty for putting Wang Ming through it. 

"Son, how do you feel now? Do you want to pull out?" Wang Ming stared strangely at Zhang Hou, then said with a sigh. "Honestly, I feel tired. I just want to go home. The competition is giving me a lot of stress." 

"Then maybe you should…"

"But, it's a lot of fun to show the world what I'm capable of. I want to show everyone what Wang Ming can do. I want Qiao Meng's and Lang Lin's family to know that I'm capable of taking care of their girls."

"I see. Then you should keep going. Just try your best."

Smirking, Wang Ming said. "One other reason I want to win is because of you. Not winning the competition is one of your biggest regret. I don't know why you didn't attend this year, but it doesn't matter. I'll win this for you."

"Thank you, son." Giving Wang Ming a hug, Zhang Hou beamed in joy, his smile so wide he almost looked like the joker. Truly meeting Wang Ming is one of the best things that has ever happened to him.

Soon the last round ended almost as fast as it had begun. The last round in this group was exactly like the one prior, so everyone in the group was ready. Before Wang Ming could hear the results, a woman from the staff called him over to the preparation room for another round of makeup. 

Wang Ming wanted to decline, but he couldn't. Makeup is mandatory for everyone going on stage. In the first rounds, it didn't matter as much since there were too many participants. But now with only 16 contestants left, everyone had to get their makeup done properly. He got told that they would do a closeup shot later.

While he was getting his makeup, they both kept saying nasty comments about him or his relationsh.i.p.s loudly enough for him to hear, but nobody else. The 10 minutes it took to get his makeup done felt like years. With the two women constantly yapping their mouths like a c.o.c.k crowing in the morning, everyone hates it. Even his makeup artist felt sorry for him, so she only gave him a light touch up before letting him go. 

The makeup artist, a young woman, couldn't believe that a woman close to her mom's age would act like this. She didn't dare to comment on it though, as Mao Qingling could easily make her lose her job. Mao Qingling even asked her if she agreed with her, which she could only sheepishly nod to. 

Leaving the preparation room to get his mental straight, Wang Ming walked back out to the main room, to only feel even more bummed when he noticed the last round had already finished. He didn't even get to know who qualified before another staff member came to pull him to the sides for the quarterfinals. They were now on a tight schedule so they needed everyone there Asap. 

After finding everyone, they were all rushed up on stage. Wang Ming felt sorry for the last group, who didn't even get any break. 

"Sorry guys b.a.r.e with us it's already late, we're starting the quarter finals now, then we're all done in another two hours."

After the producer had said his piece, the cameras turned back on, Meng Zhong now stood in the center of the kitchen counters to announce the next round. Tired was something on everyone's mind, even those in the background, but to win the competition made it worth it for all of them.